
The Tennessee Federation of Republican Women has issued a reading list for children that praises Nazi leader Adolf Hitler as an “intelligent” leader. After public criticism from other Republicans, the group removed the document from its website and said the pro-Hitler statement “inaccurately reflected our intentions.”
“Hitler and all intelligent leaders throughout history have understood that the way to change a country was through the training of its youth, to get them while they are young,” stated the group’s reading list, which contained only six books and was entitled, “Growing American Patriots Through Literacy.”
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The Hitler Youth program trained and recruited about 2 million members to act as a paramilitary force to intimidate and attack any opponents of Hitler’s Nazi regime. All other scouting organizations were banned, and children who refused to join were alienated and bullied. The program allowed Nazis to remove children from any parental anti-Nazi influence. Some Hitler Youth members were sent to fight in suicide missions during World War II and were executed if they refused.
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The Tennessee Federation of Republican Women’s praise of Hitler was met with denunciations by local Republicans and Jewish people.
Michael Dzik, president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Chattanooga, told The Times Free Press, “Any kind of use of Hitler’s name really takes away from the gravity and the magnitude and the evil, really, of the Holocaust.” He said he wanted the group to explain why it decided to praise Hitler in its youth reading list.
Oscar Brock, a Republican National Committee member, condemned the authors and publishers of the list, stating, “This message of hate has no place in any Republican-affiliated group, in Tennessee, or anywhere.”
Craig Lewis, a rabbi at Mizpah Congregation in Chattanooga, said they felt disturbed by the reading list’s “get them while they’re young” statement from Hitler.
“That was all about using propaganda and bullying to indoctrinate the youth of Germany,” Lewis said. “If there was one thing that I thought we all agreed upon, was that Hitler, as a leader, ultimately failed, that he was wrong and the source of evil, and is not someone to be emulated.”
Following the outcry, the organization removed the list from its website but didn’t issue an apology.
Afterward, the organization’s president, Sharon Boreing wrote, “The document has been removed from our website because it inaccurately reflected our intentions. There is no doubt that Hitler was an evil man who led atrocities against humanity, and we must learn from this horrific time in history so that it is never repeated again.”
“As we move forward, we will be more careful with our word choice and ensure the resources are presented with that important context.”
This isn’t the first time that a Republican women’s group has praised Hitler’s approach to youth indoctrination. Paige Miller, who runs the anti-LGBTQ+ extremist group Moms for Liberty’s Hamilton County Chapter, made headlines in June 2023 when her group’s newsletter quoted Hitler.
The newsletter included the quote, “He alone, who OWNS the youth, GAINS the future,” and cited Hitler, though the origin of the quote isn’t entirely clear, the Associated Press noted. The group initially defended its use of the quote, saying it cited the “horrific” leader to “put parents on alert” about the importance of youth education, but later deleted the newsletter.
“It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that the largest anti-student inclusion movement organization has allegedly used a quote from one of the appalling figureheads in history,” said Rachel Carroll Rivas, deputy director of research, reporting and analysis for the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center.
“They should not have quoted Hitler. Period,” read the statement from co-founders Tina Descovich and Tiffany Justice. “Parents are passionate about protecting future generations from tyranny, but Hitler did not need to be quoted to make that point.”
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